Indonesia has emerged as the country with the highest dependence on mobile Internet access in Southeast Asia, with almost half of all citizens surfing the web via their mobile phones, a Nielsen report says.

According to the report, although mobile Internet use is high in Indonesia, the country has the lowest level of overall Internet penetration in the region.

“Internet-capable handheld devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, offer easy access to the Internet for many Indonesians without having to rely on the availability of high speed broadband services at their home,” Nielsen Indonesia media division managing director Irawati Pratignyo said in a statement released to The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The report, which contains data from Nielsen’s Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Report, which will be available on Sept. 30, found that 48 percent of Internet users in Indonesia used a mobile phone to access the Internet, while another 13 percent used other handheld multimedia devices.

The trend is set to continue, according to the report, with an additional 5 percent of Indonesian Internet users indicating they will access the Internet through mobile phones and another 17 percent through Internet-capable handheld devices within the next 12 months.

“All indications suggest certain and significant growth of Internet access using mobile phones and other handheld devices over the next 12 months and beyond,” Irawati said.

The percentage of Indonesian citizens using their mobile phones to access the Internet far surpasses those in other countries in the Southeast Asia region, with the next two highest being Thailand with 36 percent and Singapore with 35 percent.

Vietnam comes in fourth in the report with 29 percent, while the Philippines and Malaysia are next with 24 percent and 21 percent respectively.

The report does not state the numbers for other countries in the region: Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Brunei.

The report also states that although mobile Internet use is high in Indonesia, the country has the lowest level of overall Internet penetration in the Southeast Asia region.

Only 21 percent of Indonesians aged between 15 and 49 use the Internet, 17 percent lower than the regional average of 38 percent and 46 percent lower than Singapore’s 67 percent Internet penetration.

Internet penetration amongst Indonesians aged 50 and beyond is also the lowest in the region, with only 1 percent of consumers online.

The report shows that Malaysia’s Internet penetration is at 38 percent, while the Philippines is 33 percent and Thailand is at 31 percent.

For the majority of Indonesian citizens, or around 66 percent, Internet cafes are the most popular location to access the Internet, which is in contrast to the majority of other countries in Southeast Asia, where most Internet access, or around 67 percent, is done from home, the report says.

Only 19 percent of all Indonesians surf the web from home, the report says. Another 22 percent access the Internet at work, while another 14 percent do so at their schools or universities. (mim)

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